University of Bristol

Mike Taylor

Back in 2008, Matt and I were [at the Museum Für Naturkunde
Berlin](http://svpow.com/2008/11/27/shedloads-of-awesome-part-1-the-humboldt-brachiosaur-remount/ "Shedloads of Awesome, part 1: the Humboldt brachiosaur remount").
We spent some time down in the collections, where we were particularly
pleased to see the
[much-admir'd](http://svpow.com/2007/10/04/tutorial-2-basic-vertebral-anatomy/ "Tutorial 2: Basic vertebral anatomy")
C8 of [*Giraffatitan*'s
paralectotype](http://svpow.com/2011/05/10/at-last-it-can-be-told/ "At last it can be told!"),
MB.R.2181 (previously known as HMN SII).

While we were down there, we found a C8 from *Plateosaurus*, too, so we
put that next to the *Giraffatitan* vertebra and shot them together:

[![DSCN5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=480&h=360){.aligncenter
.size-full .wp-image-8787 loading="lazy" attachment-id="8787"
permalink="http://svpow.com/2013/09/05/plateosaurus-is-comical/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus/"
orig-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg"
orig-size="2272,1704" comments-opened="1"
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image-title="DSCN5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus" image-description=""
image-caption=""
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=1024"
width="480" height="360"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=480&h=360 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=960&h=720 960w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=300&h=225 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg?w=768&h=576 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/dscn5591-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpg)

I'm just sayin', is all.

---

**Note:** after having written this post, I now see that I wrote [an
essentially identical
one](http://svpow.com/2013/01/16/plateosaurus-is-pathetic/ "Plateosaurus is pathetic"),
with an essentially identical image, *earlier this year*. My memory is
definitely going. Oh well: since I've written this, I may as well post
it anyway.


Back in 2008, Matt and I were at the Museum Für Naturkunde Berlin.

Plateosaurus is comical

[![DSCN5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=480&h=360){.aligncenter
.size-full .wp-image-7444 loading="lazy" attachment-id="7444"
permalink="http://svpow.com/2013/01/16/plateosaurus-is-pathetic/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus/"
orig-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg"
orig-size="1280,960" comments-opened="1"
image-meta="{\"aperture\":\"2.6\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"E4500\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"1224610339\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"7.85\",\"iso\":\"100\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.12820512820513\",\"title\":\"\"}"
image-title="DSCN5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus" image-description=""
image-caption="Our old friend C8 of the Giraffatitan brancai paralectotype MB.R.2181 in left dorsolaterl view, with a comparable cervical of the prosauropod Plateosaurus for scale.
"
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=1024"
width="480" height="360"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=480&h=360 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=960&h=720 960w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=300&h=225 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg?w=768&h=576 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/dscn5593-giraffatitan-vs-plateosaurus.jpeg)

This photograph is of what I consider the closest thing to the Platonic
Ideal sauropod vertebra: it's the eighth cervical of [our old
friend](http://svpow.com/2007/10/01/hello-world/ "Hello world!") the
*[Giraffatitan](http://svpow.com/2008/11/27/shedloads-of-awesome-part-1-the-humboldt-brachiosaur-remount/ "Shedloads of Awesome, part 1: the Humboldt brachiosaur remount")
brancai* [paralectotype](http://svpow.com/2011/05/10/at-last-it-can-be-told/ "At last it can be told!")
MB.R.2181. (previously known as "*Brachiosaurus*" *brancai* HM S II ---
yes, it's [changed
genus](http://svpow.com/2009/09/09/brachiosaurus-brancai-is-not-brachiosaurus/ "“Brachiosaurus” brancai is not Brachiosaurus")
*and* specimen number, both recently, but independently.)

And if you look *very* carefully, down at the bottom, you can see the
same vertebra, C8, of the prosauropod
[*Plateosaurus*](http://svpow.com/2011/03/12/prosauropod-pneumaticity-strikes-back/ "Prosauropod pneumaticity strikes back").
Pfft.

This photo was taken down in the basement of the Museum für Naturkunde
Berlin, on the same 2008 trip where Matt took the "[Mike in
Love](http://svpow.com/2013/01/14/mike-in-love/ "Mike in love")" photo
from two days ago. For anyone who didn't recognise the specific vertebra
I was in love with in that picture, shame on you! It is of course our
old friend the ?8th dorsal vertebra of the same specimen, which we've
discussed in detail here on account of its unique [spinoparapophyseal
laminae](http://svpow.com/2008/05/26/the-astonishing-case-of-hmn-siid8-part-1-spinoparapophyseal-laminae/ "The Astonishing Case of HMN SII:D8, part 1: Spinoparapophyseal Laminae!"),
its unexpectedly [missing infradiapophyseal
lamina](http://svpow.com/2008/05/29/the-astonishing-case-of-hmn-siid8-part-1-the-missing-infradiapophyseal-lamina/ "The Astonishing Case of HMN SII:D8, part 2: The Missing Infradiapophyseal Lamina!")
and its bizarre [perforate anterior centroparapophyseal
laminae](http://svpow.com/2008/06/03/the-astonishing-case-of-hmn-siid8-part-3-perforate-anterior-centroparapophyseal-laminae/ "The Astonishing Case of HMN SII:D8, part 3: Perforate Anterior Centroparapophyseal Laminae!").

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Plateosaurus is pathetic

We’ve shown a lot of sauropod sacra around here lately (for example here, here, and here), so here’s a little look back down the tree. You haven’t heard from me much lately because I’ve been busy teaching anatomy. Still, I get to help people dissect for a living, so I can’t complain.

Western University of Health Sciences

Matt Wedel

::: {#attachment_6684 .wp-caption .aligncenter shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=480&h=360 "Plateosaurus trossingensis AMNH 6810 sacrum"){.size-full
.wp-image-6684 aria-describedby="caption-attachment-6684" loading="lazy"
attachment-id="6684"
permalink="http://svpow.com/2012/08/15/plateosaurus-sacra-of-the-amnh/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum/"
orig-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg"
orig-size="2272,1704" comments-opened="1"
image-meta="{\"aperture\":\"2.6\",\"credit\":\"\",\"camera\":\"E4500\",\"caption\":\"\",\"created_timestamp\":\"-62169984000\",\"copyright\":\"\",\"focal_length\":\"7.85\",\"iso\":\"100\",\"shutter_speed\":\"0.087719298245614\",\"title\":\"\"}"
image-title="Plateosaurus trossingensis AMNH 6810 sacrum"
image-description="" image-caption=""
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=1024"
width="480" height="360"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=480&h=360 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=960&h=720 960w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=300&h=225 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg?w=768&h=576 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg)

*Plateosaurus trossingensis* AMNH 6810 sacrum and pelvis in left
dorsolateral view
:::

We've shown a lot of sauropod sacra around here lately (for example
[here](http://svpow.com/2012/07/01/apatosaurus-minimus-sacrumilia-illustration-from-forthcoming-description/),
[here](http://svpow.com/2012/07/18/camarasaurus-sacra-of-the-amnh/), and
[here](http://svpow.com/2012/07/19/apatosaurus-sacra-of-the-national-science-museum-tokyo/)),
so here's a little look back down the tree.

You haven't heard from me much lately because I've been busy teaching
[anatomy](http://svpow.com/human-anatomy-study-materials/). Still, I get
to help people dissect for a living, so I can't complain.

Further bulletins as events warrant.


{.size-full .wp-image-6684 aria-describedby=“caption-attachment-6684” loading=“lazy” attachment-id=“6684” permalink=“http://svpow.com/2012/08/15/plateosaurus-sacra-of-the-amnh/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum/” orig-file=“https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/plateosaurus-trossingensis-amnh-6810-sacrum.jpg” orig-size=“2272,1704” comments-opened=“1”

Plateosaurus sacra of the AMNH

In the recent post on serial variation in sauropod cervicals, I wrote: Even in ‘adult’ sauropods like the big mounted Apatosaurus and Diplodocus skeletons, the anterior cervicals are less complex than the posterior ones.

::: {#attachment_6212 .wp-caption .aligncenter shortcode="caption" style="width: 490px"}
[![](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=480&h=304 "Plateosaurus trossingensis SMNS 13200 cervicals 3-8"){.size-full
.wp-image-6212 aria-describedby="caption-attachment-6212" loading="lazy"
attachment-id="6212"
permalink="http://svpow.com/2012/05/15/serial-changes-in-the-vertebral-laminae-of-plateosaurus/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8/"
orig-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg"
orig-size="2015,1279" comments-opened="1"
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image-title="Plateosaurus trossingensis SMNS 13200 cervicals 3-8"
image-description="" image-caption=""
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=1024"
width="480" height="304"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=480&h=304 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=958&h=608 958w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=150&h=95 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=300&h=190 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg?w=768&h=487 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg)

*Plateosaurus engelhardti* (originally *P. trossingensis*) SMNS 13200
cervical vertebrae 3-8 in left lateral view. C8 is roughly 15 cm long.
:::

In the [recent
post](http://svpow.com/2012/04/09/neural-spine-bifurcation-in-sauropods-part-2-why-serial-position-matters/)
on serial variation in sauropod cervicals, I wrote:

> Even in 'adult' sauropods like the big mounted *Apatosaurus* and
> *Diplodocus* skeletons, the anterior cervicals are less complex than
> the posterior ones. Compared to posterior cervicals, anterior
> cervicals tend to have simpler pneumatic fossae and foramina, fewer
> laminae, and unsplit rather than bifid spines. In all of these things
> the anterior cervicals are similar to those of juveniles of the same
> taxa, and to those of adults of more basal taxa. This is also true in
> prosauropods--in *Plateosaurus*, the full complement of vertebral
> laminae is not present until about halfway down the neck.

I was working from memory there and actually understated things a bit.
*Plateosaurus* presacral vertebrae don't have well-developed spinal
laminae, but they do eventually get the four major diapophyseal
laminae--the anterior centrodiapophyseal lamina (ACDL), posterior
centrodiapophyseal lamina (PCDL), prezygodiapophyseal lamina (PRDL), and
postzygodiapophyseal lamina (PODL--please see the [lamina
tutorial](http://svpow.com/2007/11/10/tutorial-4-laminae/) if you need a
refresher on these and the other 15 commonly identified laminae). But
they aren't all present halfway down the neck--the ACDL doesn't really
show up until the cervicodorsal transition. The other three kick in
sequentially down the neck, as shown in the above image. I think that's
pretty cool, that you get different character states expressed at
different points along the neck, in one individual organism, at one
time. And possibly also at different times--in sauropods, the anterior
cervicals tend to look more 'juvenile' or 'primitive', even in adult
animals, so all of the cervicals go through a juvenile stage, but not
all of them grow out of it. I don't know if there's a word for
that--some kind of serial heterochronotopomorphy or the like--but
hopefully someone will enlighten me.

I took the original photo in the collections at the Staatliches Museum
für Naturkunde Stuttgart in the spring of 2004. Markus Moser and Rainer
Schoch were wonderful hosts during my visit. Mike did all the work of
turning the raw photo into a figure, so thanks to him for getting this
off my hard drive and out into the world.


{.size-full .wp-image-6212 aria-describedby=“caption-attachment-6212” loading=“lazy” attachment-id=“6212” permalink=“http://svpow.com/2012/05/15/serial-changes-in-the-vertebral-laminae-of-plateosaurus/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8/” orig-file=“https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/plateosaurus-trossingensis-smns-13200-cervicals-3-8.jpeg” orig-size=“2015,1279” comments-opened=“1”

Serial changes in the vertebral laminae of Plateosaurus

**UPDATE April 16, 2012:** The paper is officially published now. I've
updated the citation and link below accordingly.

More new goodies:

[Yates, A.M., Wedel, M.J., and Bonnan, M.F. 2012. The early evolution of
postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Acta
Palaeontologica Polonica 57(1):85-100. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2010.0075](http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app57/app20100075.pdf)

~~This is only kinda sorta published. The accepted manuscript is now
posted on the APP website, and it has a DOI, but it's not formatted or
available in print yet.~~ But after discussing it amongst ourselves, we
authors agreed that (1) the paper is globally available and it's silly
to pretend otherwise, (2) there are no nomenclatural ramifications of
that fact, and (3) we're tired of not being able to talk about this
stuff. So we're gonna, starting...now.

A brief tale of Serendipity in Science (TM):

Back in 2004 I was in my third year of grad school at Berkeley. My
fellow grad student, Brian Kraatz, gave me a heads up about the 19th
International Congress of Zoology coming up in Beijing. Attendees could
submit 500-word abstracts or 2000-word short papers. I didn't plan on
doing either one, until the night before they were due, when I changed
my mind and wrote almost all of what would become [this
paper](http://sauroposeidon.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wedel-2006-pneumaticity-origins.pdf)
in a single six-hour session (don't be too impressed; I've been trying
to replicate that feat for seven years with no success).

That summer, I met up with Brian in Beijing a week before the congress,
and we spent the extra time working in the collections of the Institute
of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP). Paul Barrett
was there, working on prosauropods, and he and I had some long and
fascinating conversations. We also gave our talks in the same session at
the congress. Paul must have decided I was not a complete moron because
he invited me to give a talk in the basal sauropodomorph symposium at
SVP in 2005.

A brief aside: many of the animals I grew up calling prosauropods ended
up outside of the monophyletic Prosauropoda that is anchored on
*Plateosaurus*. Some are now basal sauropods, some are closer to
sauropods than to *Plateosaurus* but outside of Sauropoda, and some are
outside of Prosauropoda + Sauropoda. The phylogenetically correct term
encompassing all of the nonsauropods is  'basal sauropodomorphs', and it
means roughly what 'prosauropods' did until a decade or so ago. I often
slip into informally using 'prosauropods', but I try to remember to put
the term in quotes so as not to mislead anyone.

I had been to England in 2004 and 2005 and seen the putatively pneumatic
vertebrae of *Erythrosuchus* and what was then known as
*Thecodontosaurus caducus* (and is currently trading under the name
*Pantydraco caducus* for reasons that it would be otiose, for the
moment, to rehearse)--and, not incidentally, had finally met Mike in
person, although we'd been corresponding since 2000. I'd also been to
Stuttgart primarily to see the appendicular material of *Janenschia* and
ended up spending some quality time with *Plateosaurus*. (Since the
theme here is serendipity, note that the *Janenschia* work--my raison
d'etre for going to Germany--died on the table, whereas I've now been an
author on three 'prosauropod' papers and have more in the works. Weird!)

Anyway, with all of that accidental experience with 'prosauropods' and
other interesting critters like *Erythrosuchus*, I found that I actually
had something to say in 2005 SVP symposium. I titled my talk, 'What
pneumaticity tells us about "prosauropods", and vice versa', and it
turned into the [2007
paper](http://sauroposeidon.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/wedel-2007-prosauropods.pdf)
of the same title.

None of this would have happened if Brian hadn't hounded me about going
to Beijing, and if I hadn't ended up talking so much with Paul on that
trip, and if I hadn't finished up with *Janenschia* on my first day in
Stuttgart and spent the rest of the week playing with *Plateosaurus*.
And so on. Science is unpredictable, especially for scientists.

When I sent around the PDF of the paper to friends and colleagues, I
included this quip: "Were prosauropods pneumatic? The fossils don't say.
Somehow I stretched that out to 16 pages." Mike claims that because of
this quip he's never been able to take that paper seriously. But it is
my favorite among my solo efforts. It includes loads of stuff on the
origins of air sacs and pneumaticity that I wasn't able to get into my
earlier papers, either because it wasn't directly relevant or because
some reviewer forced me to excise it.

BUT.

Almost immediately after the paper came out, Adam Yates and Matt Bonnan
went and found roughly a zillion pneumatic 'prosauropods', which was a
*bit* embarrassing since I'd just concluded that the evidence for
'prosauropod' pneumaticity was thin to nonexistent. So it is a damn good
thing for me that I was already on friendly terms with both of them,
because instead of taking the opportunity to smack me down, they invited
me on board. Which led to Adam's talk at SVP in Bristol in 2009, and to
the new paper.

[![](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg "AMNH 6810 Plateosaurus mount"){.aligncenter
.size-full .wp-image-3836 loading="lazy" attachment-id="3836"
permalink="http://svpow.com/2011/03/12/prosauropod-pneumaticity-strikes-back/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount/"
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image-title="AMNH 6810 Plateosaurus mount" image-description=""
image-caption=""
medium-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg?w=300"
large-file="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg?w=1024"
width="480" height="360"
srcset="https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg?w=480&h=360 480w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg?w=960&h=720 960w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg?w=150&h=113 150w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg?w=300&h=225 300w, https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg?w=768&h=576 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px"}](http://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-mount.jpg)

And actually, the depth of my incorrectness was even greater than I had
thought. I reckon that literally millions of people have seen the
mounted *Plateosaurus* skeleton in the AMNH, and any of them who have
looked closely have seen this:

[![](https://svpow.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/amnh-6810-plateosaurus-fossa-480.jpg "AMNH 6810 Plateosaurus fossa 480"){.aligncenter
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(Click for full size, unlabeled version.)

You see the problem here, I'm sure: the semi-big, semi-obvious fossa
divided by an accessory lamina, not consistent with a muscle attachment
point or fat pad or cartilage or infection, but very consistent in both
form and location with the pneumatic fossae of other, more derived
sauropodomorphs. On the lateral face of the vertebra, probably seen by
millions, obvious to anyone who cares to look. A pneumatic prosauropod,
in other words, right out in public for decades and decades (this time I
don't have to use the scare quotes because *Plateosaurus* actually IS a
prosauropod sensu stricto). I didn't even notice the first time I
visited the AMNH back in 2006. I took the above photos, which are the
basis for Figure 4 in the paper, in 2009.

So: 'prosauropods' were pneumatic. Some of them. A little bit. If you'd
like to know more, please read the paper--it's free.

Finally, a big thank-you to Adam and Matt for inviting me to be part of
this. I think it's pretty cool stuff, and I'm sure I'll have more to say
about it in the future. They might too--you should be reading their
blogs, *[Dracovenator](http://dracovenator.wordpress.com/)* and
[Jurassic Journeys](http://jurassicjourneys.net/), anyway.

We're still not done with *Brontomerus*, by the way. If nothing else,
there's the long-overdue post on how sauropod ilia change (or rather
fail to change) through ontogeny. But that's something we'll have to get
back to next week. Stay tuned.


UPDATE April 16, 2012:

The paper is officially published now. I’ve updated the citation and link below accordingly. More new goodies: Yates, A.M., Wedel, M.J., and Bonnan, M.F. 2012. The early evolution of postcranial skeletal pneumaticity in sauropodomorph dinosaurs. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57(1):85-100. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2010.0075 This is only kinda sorta published.

Prosauropod pneumaticity strikes back

Why we do mass estimates Mass estimates are a big deal in paleobiology.

Why we do mass estimates

Mass estimates are a big deal in paleobiology. If you want to know how much an animal needed in terms of food, water, and oxygen, or how fast it could move, or how many offspring it could produce in a season, or something about its heat balance, or its population density, or the size of its brain relative to its body, then at some point you are going to need a mass estimate.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

Plateosaurus is comical

Plateosaurus is pathetic

Plateosaurus sacra of the AMNH

Serial changes in the vertebral laminae of Plateosaurus

Prosauropod pneumaticity strikes back

Tutorial 11: Graphic Double Integration, or, Weighing dinosaurs on the cheap